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Guidance on a 1400 recap

LaPorta

Well-known member
Hi everyone,

If anyone has been following my threads, I've been having a beast of a time with my 8100, and also 6100 (though that is now good to go). Soon, the time will come for me to recap my PB 1400 and replace its PRAM battery. I know people are wary of the PRAM battery, but I really do want to figure out how to replace it. I like having my machines 100% functional. As for the rest of the capacitors, I took a look at the take-apart manual, and it looks plain daunting. This is one reason I don't like working on PowerBooks! Mine is a 1400c/133 model, with 1.3 GB HD and also 8x CD drive. It really is a nice machine, and I have had it since about 2001 or so. I want to get this recap right the first time, so I am looking to make sure that I don't fall into some sort of common pitfalls. Who has undertaken this project before? Did you save a list of what capacitors you used? Are there any common areas I should look at while I am inside?

As always, all suggestions are appreciated.

 

LaPorta

Well-known member
What I really need to start is a list of the capacitors...surely, someone has recorded it somewhere. Just so I can order parts before starting.

 

Paulie

Well-known member
Have you got the 'board out already? Maybe you might have to lead the charge on documenting this. If it wasn't such a faff to do and I had a reason to do it, I'll pull my 1400 apart and document it myself.

 

LaPorta

Well-known member
No, I haven't undertaken any disassemble simply because, instructions nonwithstanding, it is easier for me to disassemble something this complex, change the caps, the put it back together...rather than have it sit there for a week plus waiting for the caps and then forget what I did, have my kids touch the screws, etc. I was just hoping someone had done it, but I can't even find information via Google.

 

Byrd

Well-known member
It is displaying cap-rot symptoms?  There really isn't much to replace if at all.

 

LaPorta

Well-known member
The machine works perfectly except for the contrast rocker switch. Funny contrast levels of all kinds happen when you press it; I was assuming something circuit-related.

I simply wanted to get all the electrolytics swapped out before they leak.

 
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CircuitBored

Well-known member
The 1400 has nine 100uF 35V electrolytic Nichicon caps on its logic board, everything else is tantalum. I doubt they need replacing yet unless your machine has seen some seriously insane usage. As for the the dodgy contrast controls: that's just sort of how 1400s behave. All three of mine have the same sort-of glitchy controls. A recap might fix it – there are two electrolytic caps on the control board: a 2.2uF 50V and a 10uf 50V. It's more likely that your power supply needs recapping than any of the laptop's components, it's a job I have yet to do myself but there are some posts about it on 68KMLA IIRC.
 

joshc

Well-known member
Did we ever get a definitive list of caps for the 1400?

This is what I have so far, but I don't know if it's accurate. It would also be good to know diameter/height spec for each cap.

Logicboard

9 x 100uf 35V
1 x 33uf 25V - most guides say 9 x 100uf 35v but I'm looking at a 1400cs board and it's got an extra cap...a 33uf 25v.

Display

1x 47uf 6v (5mm Diameter, 5mm Height)
1x 33uf 16v (6mm Diameter, 5mm Height)

Display Inverter Board

1x 10uf 50v - what size??
2.2uf 50v - how many?? - what size??

Anything else?

cc @LaPorta @3lectr1cPPC @AndyO @CircuitBored
 

3lectr1cPPC

Well-known member
Ah, it appears that I missed the 33uf 25v on my cap reference page, I’ll fix that soon. And it’s 1x of the 2.2uf cap.
The 10uf 50v cap is pretty normal size wise, the 2.2uf is quite small and you’ll need a small replacement. Don’t have measurements at the moment, sorry.
 

LaPorta

Well-known member
Here was my Mouser part list. Some of the parts may be EOL or out of stock now, but you can at least derive the diameter/size from them. Note that for anything other than the logic board, these are specific to the 1400c.

 

3lectr1cPPC

Well-known member
Inverter should be the same between the models as far as I know. The 5300, 1400 and 3400 series seem to use the same base design for the inverter, same cap values. 3400’s board looks very different but it’s clearly a 5300 inverter at heart
 
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